Scenic Australian Waterfront Evokes Memories of Bay Area

There is a lot of water here, The Chronicle has learned. Someone once described San Francisco as the kind of place where someone drags you away from a great view so you can see a really spectacular view around the corner.

The principle is the same here, except with beaches. They are everywhere. (One point: We might want to speak to our supplier for the Pacific Ocean; it is clear that the Australians are getting all the blue stuff.)

At any rate, wherever you go, the waterfront sights are just drop-dead gorgeous. A San Francisco reporter was nearly trampled at Darling Harbor when he stepped off the tram, rounded the corner and was "gob- smacked," to use a local term, by the vista.

Darling Harbor is what the Financial District in San Francisco would look like if they flooded the streets. It is a narrow finger of water reaching in among the skyscrapers. At night, when you can sit in the outdoor restaurants, and the lighted fountains in the bay are going off in time to the musical background, you could forget what you were eating and miss your mouth.

But that's nothing. What you really want to do is go to Bondi (Bond-eye) Beach, where the beach volleyball is taking place. Chelsea Clinton was there yesterday, hanging out in the crowd and it seems to be the perfect spot if you have a little free time.

Not at all, a local explained. Where you really want to go is Coogee Beach, just down from Bondi. That's the real spot. Smaller, but much better.

Unless, of course, you wanted to go to someplace really nice. Then, naturally, you'd take the Manley Ferry. We did so in the interest of good reporting. The 40-minute ride takes you out past the Opera House, along the famous bridge, and out to Manley, which is sort of the Sausalito of Sydney -- with even less parking.

And there it was, the famous Manley Beach. It was lovely, although the shark net tacked out from the shore got you to thinking. What a beautiful beach, we said to someone, who only rolled his eyes.

That, he explained, is not Manley Beach. To get to the real Manley Beach you have to go around the corner. It is beautiful. So we did and it was. In fact, it was the prettiest beach we have seen in Australia in at least the last 20 minutes.